The Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) is a representative body of

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

organisations, known as a labour council, in the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. It comprises 43 affiliated trade unions and professional associations, and eight regional Trades and Labour Councils of Victoria. The eight regional Trades and Labour Councils are Ballarat Regional Trades & Labour Council, Bendigo Trades Hall Council, Geelong Trades Hall Council,

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

Trades & Labour Council Inc.,

Goulburn Valley The Goulburn Valley is a sub-region, part of the Hume region of the Australian state of Victoria. The sub-region consists of those areas in the catchment of the Goulburn River and other nearby streams, and is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. T ...

Trades & Labour Council, Sunraysia Trades & Labour Council Inc., North-East Border Trades & Labour Council and South-West Trades & Labour Council. The Victorian Trades Hall Council is affiliated with the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and l ...

. Affiliation to the VTHC is open to any industrial organisation of employees (most commonly called a trade union) with at least 20 financial members. Delegates from affiliated organisations are elected to meet as the Victorian Trades Hall Council. There are monthly Council meetings, and an Executive which meets fortnightly to administer the union affairs, particularly matters of an urgent nature.

Responsibilities

The Victorian Trades Hall Council is responsible for: * Co-ordinating union activities and campaigns, involving more than one union. * Providing assistance with research, negotiations and advocacy to affiliated organisations. * Lobbying State Parliament for social and industrial reforms. * Providing a public point of contact for general enquiries on Victorian unions. * Administering

Melbourne Trades Hall Victorian Trades Hall is the headquarters of the Victorian Trades Hall Council. It is located on the corner of Lygon Street and Victoria Street, just north of the Melbourne central business district, in the suburb of Carlton, Melbourne, Vict ...

, which provides offices and meeting rooms for the Council and Executive, as well as leasing space to affiliated unions and other activist and social change groups.

Secretaries of the Victorian Trades Hall Council

* Luke Hilakari, 2014–present * Brian Boyd, 2005–2014 * Leigh Hubbard, 1995–2005 *

John Halfpenny John Francis Halfpenny AM (7 April 1935 – 20 December 2003) was an Australian unionist. Biography Halfpenny was born in Donald in Victoria and joined the Communist Party, travelling to Moscow in 1960 as head of the Eureka Youth League. ...

, 1988–1995 *Peter Marsh, 1985–1987 *K.C. (Ken) Stone, 1969–1985 *Michael Christopher Charles (Mick) Jordan, 1964–1969 *James Victor (JV) Stout, 1938–1964 * Albert Monk, 1933–1938 *William (Bill) Duggan, 1931–1933 *Maurice Boyce Duffy, 1929–1930 *

Jack Holloway Edward James "Jack" Holloway (12 April 1875 – 3 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1929 to 1951, representing the Labor Party. He served as a government minister under James Scullin, ...

, 1920–1929 *Charles Gray, 1910–1920 *James Munn, July 1910 – September 1910 *Stephen Barker, 1901–1910 *John George Barrett, 1893–1901 *David Bennet, 1886–1893 *

William Emmett Murphy William Emmett Murphy (12 May 1841 – 26 February 1921) was an Australian trade unionist and aspiring politician. He was born in Dublin on 12 May 1841, the son of William Murphy, a publican. He was educated at the Christian Brothers' College an ...

, 1877–1886

History

In 1856 stonemasons in Melbourne won the

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the ...

, one of the first occasions in the world where organised workers had achieved this without loss of pay. The same year ''Melbourne Trades Hall Committee'' was formed and received a grant of land to build a

. The world's first workers' parliament, the Trades Hall was built on the site in 1859. It was built in the style of the parliament buildings which were just down the road, and over the years has been further developed. With increasing activity during the 1880s in the

Australian labour movement The Australian labour movement began in the early 19th century and since the late 19th century has included industrial (Australian unions) and political wings (Australian Labor Party). Trade unions in Australia may be organised (i.e., formed) o ...

the committee became a Council to reflect its expanding role, though the full title, ''Victorian Trades Hall Council'' was only formally adopted in 1968. In recent times, as well as being the centre for union activity, the Trades Hall Council has opened the Trades Hall building to many cultural events, plays, and concerts including the Melbourne Comedy Festival – concentrating on political and 'on the edge' performances. It was classified by the National Trust and is included in the Register of Historic Buildings (Victoria). Some notable members of the Trades Hall Council from the 1880s include

William Trenwith William Arthur Trenwith (15 July 1846 – 26 July 1925) was a pioneer trade union official and labour movement politician for Victoria, Australia. Early life Born to convict parents at Launceston, Tasmania, he followed his father's trade as ...

and

Chummy Fleming John William 'Chummy' Fleming (1863 – 25 January 1950) was a pioneer unionist, agitator for the unemployed, and anarchist in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. "Chummy" Fleming was instrumental in starting May Day celebrations and marches in M ...

, both from the ''Victorian Operative Bootmakers Union''.

Issues

Leigh Hubbard as Secretary of the VTHC, along with

Sharan Burrow Sharan Leslie Burrow (born 12 December 1954) was the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) (2010-2022) and a former president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) (2000–2010). She was the first wom ...

, President of the ACTU, signed an international labor declaration against the war on Iraq in February 2003 involving over 200 unions and 550 union leaders from 53 countries representing 130 million workers. The VTHC is an affiliate of the Victorian Peace Network. VTHC President Kevin Bracken sparked outrage on 20 October 2010 when he told Jon Faine's ABC talk-back program the 911 attacks on the World Trade Center were not the result of terrorist activity. He said the story was a conspiracy that "didn't stand up" to scientific scrutiny.http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/trades-hall-president-kevin-bracken-calls-911-conspiracy/story-e6frf7kx-1225941158523

References

Melbourne Trades Hall
''Reason in Revolt website'' Source Documents of Australian Radicalism * ''Radical and Working Class Politics. A Study of Eastern Australia 1850–1910'' Robin Gollan, MUP (1966) No ISBN {{Authority control 1856 establishments in Australia Trade unions in Victoria (Australia) Trades councils